4 ms·

Why are we so bad at naming things

boomboomsubban 5y ago
People often think they're the first to think of somewhat obvious things, have many shared cultural experiences, and they like puns.
andix 5y ago
Because it's hard. There are even professionals who think all day long how to name things (advertisement and marketing industry). A little open source project doesn't have the resources for that.
threatripper 5y ago
Names should come last (when everything else is known) but usually they come first (when most things are yet undecided). Once set, the name gets quite a lot of inertia and is hard to change. While naming things is hard, renaming things often isn't worth it.
layer8 5y ago
There are more things to be named than good names, and also what constitutes a good name depends on our individual perception (prior experiences, cultural background, neurological disposition, etc.). Looking at it from the other side: Why are we so hung up on names? It’s not that we shouldn’t, but it’s an interesting topic. A computer doesn’t care as long as a name is syntactically unambiguous and fits the lengths constraints.
mort96 5y ago
Gnuplot isn't a bad name in itself, it's a name which describes what it does (plotting system) with a small pun. Just bog standard stuff. GNU isn't a bad name, it's a cool self-referential acronym which also describes what it is really well (GNU's Not UNIX). The only problem is that those two names exist in the same cultural context.
- jiofih 5y ago
  what’s the pun? Never knew there is one (non-native English speaker here)
  - wccrawford 5y ago
    Probably New vs Gnu. (Pronounced identically.)
    - finnh 5y ago
      whaaat? i pronounce the g in gnu ("guh-new" but short, more like g'new). Google now tells me that's wrong. I guess Gary Gnu on the Great Space Coaster led me wrong in my formative years.
      - lioeters 5y ago
        The Wikipedia page on GNU shows the "g" is pronounced. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/En-gnu.ogg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/En-gnu.o... ..Unless you mean "gnu" as in the animal, then it's like "new" (which I didn't know before).
      - toast0 5y ago
        > Google now tells me that's wrong. Google is not an authoritative source on pronouncing words in English. In fact, there are no authoritative sources on pronouncing words in English. There are references for common usages, but anything that is mutually intellegable is not wrong, even if it's not common usage or listed in the references. Plenty of people pronounce the g, and plenty of people would know what you mean if you said I graphed this with g'new plot, and not if you said you graphed it with new plot. So, I for one, would prefer if you countinue to voice the g.
        finnh 5y ago
        Yeah, I'm gonna stick with it. I've never heard _anyone_ pronounce GNU as "new", so my mind was fairly blown. Sibling comment to yours helpfully points out the "new" pronunciation is only for the animal, not the open source initiative. Either way, I blame Gary Gnu. Or maybe I thank him, for getting me ahead of the curve on pronouncing GNU.

People often think they're the first to think of somewhat obvious things, have many shared cultural experiences, and they like puns.

andix 5y ago

Because it's hard. There are even professionals who think all day long how to name things (advertisement and marketing industry). A little open source project doesn't have the resources for that.

threatripper 5y ago

Names should come last (when everything else is known) but usually they come first (when most things are yet undecided). Once set, the name gets quite a lot of inertia and is hard to change. While naming things is hard, renaming things often isn't worth it.

layer8 5y ago

There are more things to be named than good names, and also what constitutes a good name depends on our individual perception (prior experiences, cultural background, neurological disposition, etc.). Looking at it from the other side: Why are we so hung up on names? It’s not that we shouldn’t, but it’s an interesting topic. A computer doesn’t care as long as a name is syntactically unambiguous and fits the lengths constraints.

mort96 5y ago

Gnuplot isn't a bad name in itself, it's a name which describes what it does (plotting system) with a small pun. Just bog standard stuff. GNU isn't a bad name, it's a cool self-referential acronym which also describes what it is really well (GNU's Not UNIX). The only problem is that those two names exist in the same cultural context.

jiofih 5y ago
what’s the pun? Never knew there is one (non-native English speaker here)
- wccrawford 5y ago
  Probably New vs Gnu. (Pronounced identically.)
  - finnh 5y ago
    whaaat? i pronounce the g in gnu ("guh-new" but short, more like g'new). Google now tells me that's wrong. I guess Gary Gnu on the Great Space Coaster led me wrong in my formative years.
    - lioeters 5y ago
      The Wikipedia page on GNU shows the "g" is pronounced. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/En-gnu.ogg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/En-gnu.o... ..Unless you mean "gnu" as in the animal, then it's like "new" (which I didn't know before).
    - toast0 5y ago
      > Google now tells me that's wrong. Google is not an authoritative source on pronouncing words in English. In fact, there are no authoritative sources on pronouncing words in English. There are references for common usages, but anything that is mutually intellegable is not wrong, even if it's not common usage or listed in the references. Plenty of people pronounce the g, and plenty of people would know what you mean if you said I graphed this with g'new plot, and not if you said you graphed it with new plot. So, I for one, would prefer if you countinue to voice the g.
      - finnh 5y ago
        Yeah, I'm gonna stick with it. I've never heard _anyone_ pronounce GNU as "new", so my mind was fairly blown. Sibling comment to yours helpfully points out the "new" pronunciation is only for the animal, not the open source initiative. Either way, I blame Gary Gnu. Or maybe I thank him, for getting me ahead of the curve on pronouncing GNU.